Newsletter May 2003

Every
time we add something new, you'll see a linked guide to it here,
with our archive of past Newsletters.

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about fresh downloads etc.
Please forward a copy to a friend.

Our
update this month is large and includes four new photo galleries.
Two are historical, one largely contemporary and one from precisely
March 30 2003.

BETTY
Rules, the musical written and performed by BETTY and
directed by Michael Greif (he of Rent fame), called it quits
in New York on March 30 after 212 performances at the Zipper
Theater. Their next outing, apart from a vacation followed
by their steady diet of club gigs, will be to take ‘the
exception to the musical’ on the road first thing in
2004. Perhaps against the Rules, but certainly not against
those of BETTY Rules, we sneaked a camera into the last performance.
You can see the best
27 of 202 photos documenting the show, each with its own
descriptive caption. A cast CD is ready for mixing, and will
use some of the photos on its cover, and there are vague rumors
of the group making ‘a holiday album’ in time for
inspirational listening in December.

Now
for the first bit of history in May. The CBGB’s and the
late seventies were more special than we realized at the time,
although it was certainly fun to be part of it all. The production
commentaries on the first two Shirts albums (the
Shirts and Street
Light Shine), intimately connected with the club and manager Hilly
Kristal, were posted last month. Our new gallery has 17
photos by JR Rost taken of the group, the club, and various
prominent characters around the scene. Again, each has its own
story. The Shirts will be playing with their newly-expanded eight-person
lineup at CBGB’s on Saturday May 31st.

Back
to the present with Carol
Lipnik. With a strong style and songwriting and a voice to
match, she’s still pretty much unknown outside New York,
Carol first connected with the Stereo Society by the very downtown
mechanism of being friends with a dancer living upstairs from
our studio (thanks for putting up with the racket) and passing
on a tape. Her distinctive song Ships
That Pass In The Night was covered by Thorne on his
Sprawl CD, with BETTY taking the principal vocals. Carol has
a newly extended section of her own at the Stereo Society, and
we also post 18 of her ‘headline
poems’, creative and pithy juxtapositions of newspaper
cutouts. Not to forget a small
gallery of unique photos (no mug shots here). Carol Lipnik
and Spookarama play New York’s Living Room (84 Stanton
Street, at Allen) May 2 at 10pm.

Finally,
a little more extended history. Sarah
Jane Morris has always lived life a little louder and larger
than most, starting her public musical activities in the very
early eighties with the memorable Italian band Wop Avenue (named
after Fifth Avenue and its Gucci shops). Through other largely
unconventional bands, through huge hits with the Communards and
acting, Sarah Jane landed in
her present steadily developing solo career. As part of her newly
extended and revised Stereo Society home, we post 18
striking photos spanning activities from that 1982 start
forwards.

At
the site, we’re still growing dramatically. Last month
we entertained over 24,000 visitors (310,000 hits). Thanks again
for your support, keep visiting, and keep communicating (via
the Contact page).